American Water Works’ (AWK) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $164.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Water Works from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $140.29.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of AWK opened at $147.23 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $143.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. American Water Works has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $150.68. The company has a market cap of $28.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.86, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $488,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the second quarter worth $3,715,000. Pensioenfonds Rail & OV bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter worth $21,311,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 357,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,134,000 after buying an additional 3,797 shares during the period. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,295,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.